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Four-legged employee

Siberian husky brings companionship to Mercy Living Center

Mercy Living Center resident Cecile McKenty and nurse Andrew James pose with Syrus, James’ Siberian husky, at the nursing home Wednesday. (Enterprise photo — Kelly Carroll)

TUPPER LAKE — After roaming the halls of Mercy Living Center for approximately two-and-a-half years, Syrus James has been issued an employee badge by Adirondack Health.

Andrew James is a nurse who works as Mercy’s minimum data set coordinator, which means he keeps up the database of patient information. He has brought Syrus, his Siberian husky, to work almost every day since receiving the job, and residents of the nursing home and rehabilitation center have taken to his presence.

“I don’t bring him on the floor every time I go on the floor because I’d never get anything done,” James said. “Everybody wants to see him, meet him, pet him and talk about him. I try to do it once a day, usually towards the end of my shift. It puts a smile on my face at the end of the day, and it puts a smile on some of the residents’ faces.”

James said while the facility has a therapy animal program, Syrus isn’t officially part of it. Nevertheless, he has been beneficial in helping residents relax.

“I have seen him have positive effects on residents that might be a little agitated, have some behavioral problems,” James said. “Sometimes they reject him at first, but I found that even when I sit close by with him, even in five minutes, Sy is sitting at their side, they’re petting him, and they’ve calmed down. They went from being angry to maybe a little bit sad. But you at least get to lower that, their feelings, and you at least get to talk to them, break through the sadness and bring them back to a good baseline.”

Adirondack Health issued an employee badge to Syrus the Siberian husky, owned by Mercy Living Center nurse Andrew James. (Photo provided by Matt Scollin, Adirondack Health)

Even if residents do not interact with Syrus, they still brighten and get hints of a smile on their face, James said.

“It’s just an unusual sight to see animals in a facility like this, so it just breaks the routine,” he said. “It also kind of gives away that this isn’t your typical health care facility. This is actually a home for people, which is what we want to do here. We want to provide that feeling that this is more of a home than a hospital.”

One resident, Cecile McKenty, and her daughter Jill McKenty come to James’ office frequently to spend time with Syrus and run through his stock of tricks while James is working.

“They’ve actually gotten really good,” James said. “He used to only perform tricks for me, but they’ve gotten good at it, where they’ll run right through it and do his tricks three or four times and really enjoy his company, so that’s a part of his routine here at work.”

Cecile McKenty said she and Syrus have been friends since he arrived at the center. He reminds her of a dog she used to have. When asked about what she likes about Syrus, she replied “everything.”

“Spending time with him has really been therapy for both of us,” Jill McKenty said.

James added that Syrus also provides both comic and stress relief for the staff, including nurses, doctors and housekeepers, which can help during the long days.

“They really love him,” he said. “It’s not unknown for me to be here late at night and catch one of the (certified nursing assistants) that will just come and crawl on the floor with him — you know, just hang out with him, decompress a little bit.

“There’s been a couple of times I stopped bringing him because I thought maybe it was too much at the beginning,” James said. “As soon as I stopped bringing him, I had a line of staff that would come to me asking, ‘What’s going on? Did someone tell you that you couldn’t bring him in? Where’s Syrus? Is he OK?’ You kind of notice the stress level gets a little bit high up there. As soon as he is brought back into the environment, you see everybody take a sigh of relief and they play around with him.”

As Syrus lay outside James’ office door, James listed the qualities that make him a good fit for the facility.

“Just the fact that he’s open, he’s calm and he doesn’t show any aggression almost ever, these are just good characteristics in general,” he said. “Almost everybody I’ve met, after hanging out with him, has said, ‘That’s the best behaved dog I’ve ever seen.’ I can’t take credit for it; it’s him. It really is. That’s his personality.”

Syrus has also been enjoying spending time in the center as well, James said, getting treats every day and gaining around 12 pounds since his time there.

“I can’t even imagine how many treats he gets in a day, maybe eight to 10 treats,” he said. “So in terms of currency, he’s probably better paid than I am. There are no worries about that.”

James adopted Syrus, who is between 7 and 8 years old, in the spring of 2011 from the Tri-Lakes Humane Society in Saranac Lake.

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